The underdog Carolina Panthers beat the New England Patriots on Sunday with a field goal by Graham Gano after the offense appeared to click for the first time this season.

Although the Patriots have a historically bad defense, the game still showed hope for Carolina’s offense, which had struggled in their first few games. After a 2-0 start, the team came to a crashing halt against the New Orleans Saints, getting blown out 34-13 at home.

Lets look at how the 3-1 Panthers have done at the quarter-mark of the 2017 season.

The Offense

After getting less than 288 yards in their first three games, the Panthers exploded out of the gate on Sunday for 444 yards to win a big matchup in New England. The explosion was a crucial step for the offense – one that even without number one tight end Greg Olsen, seemed to have all the pieces to succeed.

The rushing offense has averaged 130 yards on the ground a game, but the running backs have no touchdowns to show for it. Cam Newton’s 4.1 yards per carry lead the team, followed buy Jonathan Stewart, who has averaged 3.9 yards per carry. Rookie Christian McCaffrey has struggled running the ball, sporting a 2.9 yard average, but leads the team in receiving at the quarter mark.

The passing offense was abysmal until Week 4, not once passing over 200 yards in a game. Against the Patriots, Newton almost doubled his numbers for the year, passing for 304 yards and two touchdowns. He also posted only one interception, for the second time in four games Newton has an equal number of interceptions to touchdowns, with five each.

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Defense

The fourth-ranked defense in the NFL has allowed an average of 282 yards per game against the 25th, 29th, 7th and 1st ranked offenses of the 49ers, Bills, Saints and Patriots, respectively. The defense has also allowed teams to convert on 3rd down 38 percent of the time, and on fourth down 26 percent of the time.

The Panthers unit has been very game-to-game, having moments where they have shut down opposing run games or quarterbacks, but also having moments where they couldn’t stop them if they tried.

Against the run the team has allowed an average of 87 yards per game. The team held LeSean McCoy to nine yards on twelve carries, and Buffalo as a whole to only 69 yards rushing. Against the Saints the team gave up 149 yards rushing, including 56 yards on 14 carries to Mark Ingram.

Against opposing quarterbacks, the team has allowed 195 passing yards per game, only allowing Tom Brady to go over 220 yards. The defense has 11 sacks on the year, good for ninth place in the league. Julius Peppers’ four and a half sacks lead the team through four games.

Special Teams

After years of the Panthers ranking as one of the worst special teams units in the league, this unit has finally found their rhythm in 2017.

Graham Gano is 10/10 on the year, including the game winner against the Patriots. Michael Palardy is punting at a 43.7 yards per punt average, with a net just over return yardage just over 40. McCaffrey is returning punts with an average of six yards per return, with no bobbled punts to mention. The kickoff team has allowed only one return on the year.

Rookie Report

Christian McCaffrey has struggled as a run and excelled as a pass catcher. The rookie has made 22 catches for 206 yards, and is on pace for 800+ yards on the year, the most ever by a Panthers running back. He has struggled mightly running between the tackles, however, and is averaging less than three yards per carry. McCaffrey has still shown potential in making people miss in space, however, and has not lost any of his shiftiness since college. It’s quite possible that he is still adjusting to the NFL and its faster pace.

The rest of the rookies have struggled to make it on the field this year. Curtis Samuel has been fighting the injury bug since mini camp, and only has one rush and four receptions for eight yards on the year. Taylor Moton has failed to get involved on a struggling offensive line, for reasons unknown. Daeshon Hall has been a healthy scratch two of the four games thus far, and Alex Armah was called up to play fullback after week two when Greg Olsen went down.

Overall

Overall, the Panthers were lucky to be 2-1 going in against the Patriots. After the New England defense allowed the Panthers to move at will, the team has now tumbled their way forward to 3-1.

It’s not hard to say that they are easily the worst 3-1 team in the league, but it’s also not hard to imagine the offense gaining life for good after the Patriots game, and catching up to the defense. An easy start to the year may be just what they needed to get the ball rolling for good.